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June 18, 2012

Deep End of the Pool

"Carbon is the currency of life," says David Griffith, a student in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program and lead author of a recent study to measure levels of carbon in the Arctic Ocean from the icy surface to the ocean floor. Where carbon is coming from, which organisms are using it, and how they're giving off carbon themselves say a lot about how an ocean ecosystem works. Because of its remote location and the challenges of operating in sea ice, Griffith and his team are the first to look broadly in the Arctic at multiple types of carbon at the same time and place. Their study provides a baseline for evaluating how Arctic Ocean carbon levels will respond to a changing climate. (Photo by David Griffith, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)